Jill Long Thompson Calls on Daniels to Disclose All Private Sector Payments of State Employee Salaries

ARGOS, IN - Former Congresswoman and Under Secretary of Agriculture Jill Long Thompson today called on Governor Mitch Daniels to fully disclose all private sector payments of state employee salaries.

Long Thompson, who made the request following revelations Tuesday in the Indianapolis Star that the Daniels administration is using funds from the private sector to pay the salaries of public employees, said Daniels should publicly disclose all employees who are receiving private funds and should provide a description of their involvement in any issue related to this source of funding. She also called on Daniels to stop the practice immediately, except where specifically allowed by a 1969 law intended to let government agencies share employees.

"A sound democracy requires a separation between the branches of government, and good government requires that there be an ethical distance between the public and private sectors," said Long Thompson. "Just as the government should not run corporations, corporations should not be running government."

Long Thompson, who as Indiana's 4th District Congresswoman introduced the first legislation in the 1990's to ban the giving of gifts by lobbyists to Members of Congress, said as Governor she will end the practice if Daniels does not. She added that she would continue to allow physicians who serve as state health commissioner to do so without giving up their jobs or other similar circumstances consistent with the intent of the 1969 law. However, she said in one of the cases cited in the Star article, it appeared the Daniels administration was circumventing the intent, if not the letter, of the law.

"Public service at times requires personal sacrifice," Long Thompson said. "That is true in state government as it is in the federal government. I am confident there are sufficiently talented and experienced Hoosiers who want to serve Indiana without compromising basic ethical and conflict-of-interest standards."

Long Thompson added that during her more than 11 years as U.S. Representative and Under Secretary of Agriculture, she was able to attract talented, dedicated staff even though many could have commanded higher salaries in the private sector. "As Governor, I will insist on the highest ethical standards and conduct," she said. "Hoosiers deserve to know that government decisions are being made free from undue private sector influence. I believe Indiana's state government can and should have both high ethical standards and highly qualified employees." 

Jill Long Thompson represented Northeast Indiana in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1989 to 1995. She also served as Under Secretary of Agriculture for Rural Development from 1995 to 2001.  Long Thompson most recently served as CEO of The National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy. She received her B.S. in Business from Valparaiso University, and her M.B.A. and Ph.D. in Business from Indiana University. Jill Long Thompson and her husband Don Thompson, a commercial airline pilot, live on their family farm in Marshall County.

Source: http://www.hoosiersforjill.com/

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